A UK veterans group has slammed an armed forces resource meant for use in schools in the wake of a critical report jointly published by the Quakers and the anti-militarist NGO Forces Watch.

The 58-page Armed Forces Learning Resource 2014 was branded a
“poor quality learning resource” by the report's
authors, speaking to the Independent.

They were particularly critical of a foreword by Prime Minister
David Cameron and comments by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon.

Cameron opens by claiming: “Around the world, the Royal Navy,
British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Marines stand for
freedom, fairness, tolerance and responsibility ... There is not
a single person in this country who is not a direct beneficiary
of their sacrifices and bravery.”

In the course of the resource, Fallon argues: “The military
ethos is a golden thread that can be an example of what is best
about or nation and helps it improve everything it touches.”

Reacting to the critical report, Forces Watch told RT: “If
this was a warts-and-all look at the armed forces, it would not
be a problem. Instead it is a glossy promotional brochure that
glorifies ‘military values’ and sanitizes war and has no place in
education.

“It includes many contributions from politicians and senior
figures in the armed forces who all have their own agenda of
promoting the armed forces.”

The “Critical Response to ‘The Armed Forces Learning Resource
2014’” paper also argues that, while meant for schools, no
teachers were involved in its creation.

“Culturally, this is the kind of resource one gets in
countries with less-than-democratic structures where civic
education is used by governments to manipulate citizens into an
uncritical attitude towards the state,” a contributor said.

The tone of both politicians’ comments have also been challenged
by UK military veterans.

Former SAS soldier and paratrooper Ben Griffin – who is a veteran
of Northern Ireland, Macedonia, Iraq and Afghanistan and a
founder member of Veterans for Peace UK – told RT: “This
‘learning resource’ is nothing of the sort. It is an attempt to
infect our kids with militarism whilst pushing a dishonest
representation of the ‘military ethos.’”

Veterans for Peace UK supporter Duncan Parker, formerly a major
in the Royal Army Medical who served in Iraq, told RT: “This
resource is an unabashed effort to convince children to
unquestioningly support the military and everything it does is
the correct way to behave. It is a sanitized and one sided
account, leaving out any mention of the true nature of war which
inevitably involves the death and injury of innocents and
destruction of large swathes of infrastructure.”

Not all veterans are against the concept. Glenn Humphries, 29,
fought in Afghanistan. While he has some reservations he thinks
the idea might have some value. He told RT: “[While] I don't
want to see a pro military education for our children, I do think
some of the core values promoted in the army could help, such as
integrity, discipline and respect for one another.”

A Department for Education spokesman told the Independent:
“Resources are regularly produced for teachers to help them
come up with lesson plans. It is then for teachers to decide what
is best for their pupils.”